Police searching for truck involved in Christmas Eve hit-and-run

CARMEL, Maine — Maine State Police are asking for the public’s help in finding a white GMC extended-cab pickup truck with front-end damage that was involved in a hit-and-run on Christmas Eve on Interstate 95 in Carmel, Trooper Michael Johnston said Thursday.

Police believe that the man driving the truck, who initially stopped but then left the scene, may have been intoxicated, he said.

A man from Lisbon Falls was driving south on I-95 in a Jeep Wrangler around 11:35 p.m. Dec. 24 when he noticed a truck behind him gaining on him quickly with its left turn signal on.

Around mile marker 171, the truck “plowed right into him,” Johnston said. “The force of that pushed him right off the road. His car was totaled, but he was not injured.”

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The driver of the white truck stopped long enough to survey the scene, then got back into his heavily damaged truck and left, the trooper said.

“It would have extensive front-end damage,” Johnston said. “The bumper, the grill, the lights, the hood — pretty much the front of the vehicle — would be damaged.”

The truck is described as a white GMC extended-cab pickup manufactured between 1999 and 2002.

Johnston is asking members of the public to call the Orono barracks of the Maine State Police if they have seen the vehicle or if they know someone who owns that type of truck, especially if it has been damaged recently.

“I’m hoping that somebody saw that vehicle,” Johnston said.

Witnesses to the collision said the driver of the pickup was speeding and swerving on the highway just before crashing into the Jeep.

“It is probably safe to say some impairment was involved,” the trooper said.

The man driving the GMC truck faces several charges, including failure to report a property damage accident, leaving the scene of an accident and driving to endanger, Johnston said.

Those with information about the case are asked to call Trooper Michael Johnston at 866-2121 or 800-432-7381.